If you can't beat them...

By Jerra

Solace Day 6. Pontcysyllte Aqueduct.

Today was the high point of the trip, literally!   After leaving the Montgomery Canal we continued up the Llangollen.  Blips are like buses there is never one when you need it but then a lot come together.  Today was one of those days when you are spoiled for choice:  Chirk Aqueduct, Chirck Tunnel, the Pontcysyllte, the rapids from the bridge in Llangollen and the Horseshoe falls.

I decided on this shot of the aqueduct.  Built between 1795 and 1805 it is the work of Thomas Telford supervised by the more experience canal engineer William Jessop it is 1007 feet (306.9m) long and 126 feet (38.4m) high.  It has 19 arches with a 45 feet (13.7m) span.

Other notable parts of the day were my visit to the "Horseshoe falls", the semicircular weir which draws all the water the canal needs and when you think the aqueduct alone contains 1.5 m litres and the canal is 44 miles long that is a lot of water.  I wanted to visit the falls as I first visited with my parents 50+ years ago and resulted in a one of the days with most steps since my hip replacement. 

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